If you sit for 2, 3, or 4 hours at a time, your workouts are pointless. It’s not sitting itself that’s bad; it’s prolonged sitting. Some of the unhealthiest people I have ever met were MMO gamers, and I’ve had several friends quit playing after their health deteriorated from too much.
From a chiropractic standpoint, you risk two kinds of problems: musculoskeletal and metabolic. On the musculoskeletal side, you risk a compromised posture because sitting puts pressure on the lumbar discs in your lower back, pushing your head forward and causing your shoulders to rotate inward. This puts pressure on your lower back, neck, and shoulders. Over time, this leads to arthritis, disc degeneration, and many other issues.
On the metabolic side, your energy expenditure drops to nothing, according to the National Institutes of Health. You burn one calorie an hour. You also keep your muscles relaxed, which slows down your metabolism, thus raising your risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. Plus, it’s terrible for your cardiovascular system and blood pressure.
National Cancer Institute even asserts prolonged sitting increases your risk of certain cancers. In that study, those who spent 10 hours a day sitting had an 8 percent higher chance of colon cancer and a 10 percent higher risk for endometrial cancer than women who sat for 8 hours daily.
The solution: Stand or walk every hour for 5 to 10 minutes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends regularly taking a brisk lunchtime walk of 30 minutes.
Dr. Laurie Dady